One project taught me a lesson that I have now applied to another. And I believe it will be useful in the future.
I've just had my first bread-making failure. It was surprising to find my dough was very sticky. It's not like I had never made bread before, and I'd used this recipe for Italian loaves many times without incident.
Before I started adding more flour, I wisely consulted Google to check on the situation. It's a good thing I did, as the first thing I was told was NOT to add more flour. That could cause the bread to become very dense. It told me to work with it, and it would get better. I found that difficult, as it kept sticking to my hands and the counter. The advice then was to put it in the fridge for a while. I did that and made a pot of tea so I could relax before tackling it again.
That did seem to help firm things up a bit, and a wee bit of water on my hands helped keep the dough from sticking to me. That sounds counterproductive, I know, but I was following Google's advice, as this was a problem I had never encountered before. The trick was to work quickly while kneading, and it seemed to be working. But every time I stopped to try to form two loaves, the dough went straight back into sticky puddle mode.
I finally gave up and decided to gather handfuls and just bake it. If it didn't turn out, it would be, at least, easier to dispose of.
I had recently taken an online needle felting course where the instructor repeatedly stressed that if we didn't have the shade of wool she was using, close enough was good enough. Some of the participants were complaining that the hare they were felting looked more like a rabbit. I thought it was a silly thing to be upset about. No one who saw their finished product would know the difference. I don't know if I have a hare or a rabbit, but I am quite happy with my bunny. Close enough is, indeed, good enough. When the bread baked up into three little round loaves instead of two long, beautiful Italian ones, I remembered that phrase and embraced it.
The bread still tasted good, and I didn't have to dispose of it after all. I even ate another slice.
